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Playing with the choreographic process
Teacher secondary dance resource developed by
The Arts Unit
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The choreographic process
The choreographic process
This is a well-known model of the craft of composition:
stimulus
intent
improvisation
reflection/evaluation
selection and refinement
motif.
Some of the steps in this process can be problematic.
Many choreographers (particularly student choreographers) are intimidated by the two 'i' words in the process - intent and improvisation.
Firstly, there is an assumption that the choreographer has a clear understanding of his/her intent from the beginning of the process. Given that dance exists on a continuum of abstractions, this could be quite questionable.
Generally, the choreographer attempts to elicit an idea(s), and/or an image(s) and/or an emotion(s) through narrative or non-narrative, highly organised or randomly organised movement and its association with other elements in the performance space (aural or visual).
Many choreographers clarify the purpose of the work in relation to idea(s), image(s) and/or emotion(s) as the process evolves.
Relationship of intent to music
Relationship of intent to music
More often than not choreographers, work closely with chosen music, which will guide the progress of the movement. Music (particularly instrumental music) is the most abstract of the art forms. It has tone, colour and dynamics, creates an atmosphere, and may provide a structure or form to design movement upon. The right choice of music facilitates good dance; the wrong choice stifles it.
The choreographer's intent and the chosen music should be a symbolic relationship. Knowing the background and characteristics of the music and its composer can inform the choreographic process.
With respect to choreographic intent, guide your audience to a place where they can partake in idea, image or emotion and be free to form their own interpretation - good art does that.
Improvisation
Improvisation
Improvisation is foreign to many teachers and students of dance. The very thought of parading formless, a technical movement in public or considering it has a place in the choreographic process dominated by what one already knows (and not what one doesn't know), can strike fear into the hearts of the most experienced practitioners.
Technical facility should not (but can) impede one's ability to explore movement. Conventional directed dance classes are about pattern making. Improvisation is about pattern breaking. The aim in improvisation is always to find another way.
Creativity, it has been said, is the quest for order. Improvisation similarly seeks order, but acknowledges that there are many more ways to find it than there are in codified movement, via instant movement problem solving.
The ability to improvise is a skill, which like other skills is acquired (strangely in this case) with practice. Improvisation, spontaneous movement, real time choreography (call it what you will) is a form of artistic play.
The notion of play implies a freedom of spirit, a sense of fun, interaction with like-minded individuals and outcomes, which are unknown. Much of our current-day play is competitive in nature. This form of play is substantially cooperative. You can play on your own, but it's more fun and productive when you play with others.
There are 3 fundamental rules of artistic play:
You must not talk.
You must play - you cannot watch.
There are no rules (apart from the 2 rules above).
How to structure the improvisation
How to structure the improvisation
Establish the environment for play to take place using the 4 S's:
silence
stillness
space
shape.
The game (and its variations) - an introduction to play.
If using music, use music which will contribute to a 'creative' atmosphere and not impose temporal or stylistic responses.
Start with movement in the whole space, with the following advice - 'don't look at anybody - don't expect anyone to look at you'.
Pose simple, discrete movements problems, which have simple solutions (physically and kinetically).
Minimise your own verbal cues. The less you have to say the better. It doesn't mean you are not teaching if you are not talking. Step back, watch and speak when you see the need and opportunity.
Repeat and build on these problems with variations, embellishments or further movement parameters. (This may occur as a result of the movement responses you see).
Construct the movement problem thus:
discrete
serial
continuous.
Incorporate interaction with others (relaxing the 'don't look' rule). Initially keep these problems simple and discrete and encourage everyone to work with everyone else at some time.
Encourage interactions with other which initially take the form of - recognising, responding, copying, complimenting, opposing and providing variation and contrast.
If the interactions above are working well, introduce the interaction of contact, with the same principles as with individual problems - simple, discrete, moving to serial and continuous.
Introduce the concept of 'the movement score'. Again start with simple and discrete.
Step back and let the order evolve from the chaos. Understand that if you and they can persist, you will access and multiply their personal movement vocabulary by a factor way above and beyond any codified movement vocabulary.
Remember in this work, there are no wrong answers - just responses which are better than others. And it works for every student not just those who've been standing at the barre for years, because it's theirs.
Happy playing!
Third-party content attributions
Third-party content attributions
State Dance Festival and Callback images 1-2, photographer: Anna Warr.
Dance 7-10 Syllabus, © NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2003, copied under s113P, accessed 27 September 2021.
Dance Stage 6 Syllabus, © NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2009, copied under s113P, accessed 27 September 2021.
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